The president tweets out some outrageous lie that nobody but his core low-information base actually believes, then Freedom Caucus-leaning Republicans swear by the lie, the few sane GOP members left hem and haw and offer a mild comment that perhaps Trump is possibly mistaken in this one instance, and the Democrats point out that the President is actually just making it all up in an orgy of deception.

The latest move in the dance comes from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) who responded to one of the many tweets that the president was inspired to fabricate in a particularly fertile burst of manure spreading this morning.

Trump took a slightly new tact today, perhaps realizing that his constant grousing and his portrayal of himself as a victim of an unjustified witch hunt was making him look weak, perfectly fitting the “whiney little bitch” sobriquet that comedian Bill Maher applied to him.

Instead he decided to play on the heartstrings of America by invoking the young, idealistic (and primarily Caucasian) staffers who came to the White House expecting to contribute their talents to Trump’s MAGA agenda, but instead have found themselves caught up with the wrong crowd and are now being forced to hire high-priced criminal defense attorneys to stay out of jail.

Who’s going to give back the young and beautiful lives (and others) that have been devastated and destroyed by the phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt? They journeyed down to Washington, D.C., with stars in their eyes and wanting to help our nation…They went back home in tatters!

The irony of Trump asking about giving back “young and beautiful lives” while his administration continues to rip babies from the arms of immigrant mothers at the border while being unable to locate the whereabouts of nearly 1,500 children already separated from their parents is unfortunately beyond the president’s comprehension.

Since it was the actions of Trump’s campaign and administration that led to the formerly-starry-eyed young political hopefuls current situation, perhaps instead of asking who is going to give them back their privileged lives, the president should instead himself be issuing an abject apology to those whose careers were destroyed by their association with a den of thieves.

Senator Schumer focused on the other most egregious issue with the president’s tweet, the very premise that the “phony Russia Collusion Witch Hunt” that Trump blames for the state of his tattered former staffers is illegitimate.

I hate repeating myself Mr. President, but let me remind you again: Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation has either indicted or secured guilty pleas from 19 people and three companies — that we know of. https://t.co/OOb5mfy1dR

The Senator’s attempt to bring the president back to the land of reality is certainly grounded in facts. Indictments and guilty pleas tend to take the sting out of accusations of investigations being “phony Witch Hunts.”

Unfortunately, Trump has proven to be immune to the concepts of reality and facts, or perhaps, he’s the opposite of immune and is, in fact, highly allergic to them. Whichever it is, the sad fact remains that 35% of the nation will believe whatever he tweets no matter how self-serving and fallacious it is.

Thanks for the reminder, Senator Schumer. Please keep reminding us. It won’t help with Trump or his easily deceived base, but it helps the rest of us remember that there is still such a thing as objective reality.